FUN-Damental
Holiday Stress Busters
By Sherri Issa

Although anyone in any profession can experience
increased stress during the holidays, healthcare professionals are
especially vulnerable. They tend to be obsessed by a need to
contribute to life through their career dedication.

They have to deal not only with a variety of
clients and their loved ones, but also with other stressed-out
colleagues. Many of these overburdened and often under-appreciated
professionals give 110 percent to their careers. Consequently, they
lose their creative edge, grow cynical more quickly, burn out
faster, and spend just as many holiday working hours pouting than
producing. The following strategies may help alleviate some of the
tightening up that Care Professionals experience during the holiday
season.

If you are anything like I am you will probably
try all of these approaches at once in order to have them perfected
by the holidays. I advise against such obsession. Such a fanatical
approach to lightening up more often leads to tightening up.

PLAY
Think of the world as a wonderful playground - a giant park full of
characters, fantasies, dreams, and love. Learn to play on that
playground, to play so hard you lose all sense of time. Many Care
Professionals do not really know what it means to play. They
willingly agree often making statements such as, “I play hard and
work hard!” However, they do not understand that play is not
supposed to be hard, that is why it is called play. Playing means
having fun. Each person has to define what play means for
themselves. But, if you have to work at it, you need to evaluate how
you look at play. Play means spending time inside your body,
breathing oxygen, and laughing aloud. Adults who know how to play
enjoy “belly laughs.” They know adult play can be as exciting as
playing good Hide-and-Go-Seek when you were a kid. Trust me, there
is nothing like a good belly laugh to get the endorphins working.

DO NOTHING/MEDITATE
Sure it sounds scary to do nothing, especially during the holiday
season. Many of you have “tried” to meditate or “do nothing” but
became over-involved in the trying part. The little voices in your
head bombard you with daily stress, and focus your attention on
holiday demands. It is not easy to learn to do nothing or to
meditate and often it feels so selfish. However, persistence pays
off. Start with sixty seconds a day to be truly alone, Take one full
minute to deeply communicate with yourself. After a while, this
“centering” time can be expanded to three or four minutes to connect
with your spirit. We all have a safe place inside ourselves, where
our spirit is at rest. Learning to just sit with our feelings can
have a profound and comforting effect on our lives.

DURING THE HOLIDAYS, QUIT BEING A WORKAHOLIC
There is nothing wrong with career dedication or working through the
holidays. What does bother me is losing perspective by placing too
much emphasis on work. It is too easy to find yourself out of
balance that way. Don’t subscribe to myths such as fun and silliness
preclude seriousness, and that somehow, humor is unprofessional.
There is a great deal of wisdom in the expression “dead serious.”
So take a little time to be silly, you may find you enjoy it and
live a bit better.

STRETCH OUT - TO OTHERS
Stretching out to others goes beyond just reaching out. It means
delegating and cooperating. It means asking loved ones to reach out,
to include you. It means asking colleagues and bosses for
conversations, laughter, and direction. Stretch yourself to make
more room for love. Practice stretching yourself by listening,
negotiating, and sharing yourself. It will make you flexible and
squash your stress. Watch yourself stretch to new heights! In the
ever-changing field of healthcare, failure to practice stress
reduction in the workplace undermines productivity, creativity,
adaptability. It literally leads to career suicide (often referred
to as burnout.)